PBA 052 Val
10:49:47 PM *** Canto added Valerian *** 10:50:18 PM Canto: Val opens his eyes and he's in a very nice sitting room. Overstuffed chairs, sculpture and paintings linting the walls. 10:50:31 PM Valerian: ((Does he recognize it?)) 10:51:02 PM Canto: No,not as such, but he does recognize that is a place meant to make him comfortable and at ease. 10:51:12 PM Valerian: Valerian therefore becomes tense. 10:51:46 PM Valerian: Valerian frowns, and looks for a person. He's a people person, after all! 10:52:13 PM Canto: There's someone sitting across from you, holding a snifter of brandy. 10:52:56 PM Valerian: Valerian sizes them up. 10:53:48 PM Canto: It is a slender young man... you think it's a man, there's a bit of androgyny there. He's wearing a mask. You're not sure how he's drinking through it, but magic. 10:55:42 PM Valerian: I'm dead. I died, I think? This isn't quite what I was expecting. 10:56:25 PM Canto: Other person: Oh yes, you died. But that's required. You had to die in the demirealm for us to make contact. Otherwise the curse would have pulled you back to Nation. 10:57:14 PM Valerian: Interesting mask. 10:57:26 PM Canto: Other person: You too. 10:57:38 PM Canto: He raises the snifter of brandy to you as if to toast. 10:57:57 PM Valerian: ... this isn't a mask, it's part of who I am. 10:58:10 PM Canto: Other person: AS is mine. 10:58:15 PM Valerian: Do you have a second glass, by any chance? 10:58:22 PM Valerian: ... ah. 10:58:40 PM Valerian: Olidammara, I presume? 10:58:54 PM Canto: He nods his head in a little bow. "Quite so!" 10:59:02 PM Canto: Val is now holding a snifter of brandy. 10:59:53 PM Valerian: Thank you. 10:59:59 PM Valerian: Valerian takes a sip. 11:00:38 PM Valerian: I always thought I'd be too much of a goody-two-shoes for you to take much interest. 11:03:51 PM Canto: Olid: Oh? You're super good at deception. That tends to be my bailiwick. 11:04:09 PM Valerian: I'm good at it. I don't do it when I can avoid it. 11:04:56 PM Canto: Olid: Mmm. Yes, but you can make words mean anything. It's fun to watch. 11:06:08 PM Valerian: ... I'm not sure how I feel about that, but that's true, I suppose. 11:08:32 PM Canto: Olid: So, I want to help you out. We don't want Nation delivering that payload of souls. As you know, you're going to be Nation's last crew. 11:09:02 PM Valerian: Is it because we fail or because we succeed? 11:09:29 PM Valerian: The others don't seem to have realized we're either famous or dead in that future. I'm not even sure whether I should tell them. 11:10:10 PM Canto: Olidammara shrugs. "I'd say we're trying to stack the deck in your favor, but it's so stacked against you at this point it's not even funny. I don't like cheats when they're on the other side of the table, right?" 11:10:11 PM Valerian: Valerian sips his brandy gratefully. 11:10:20 PM Valerian: Only on our side. 11:11:35 PM Valerian: I'm a little preoccupied with my personal issues at this point, I haven't really been devoting much thought to the larger problem at hand. 11:16:13 PM Canto: Olid.: Well, your personal issues are pretty much a labyrinth at this point. 11:18:45 PM Valerian: Yes. I don't know what to do. 11:18:55 PM Valerian: None of us does. 11:19:01 PM Valerian: It's worse for the others. 11:19:20 PM Valerian: I should have told them all from the beginning. 11:20:24 PM Canto: Olid.: Perhaps. 11:20:50 PM Valerian: Even if she's not angry enough to chop off my head, or worse, hate us after she finds out, what's the best possible outcome? 11:21:46 PM Valerian: She loathes Quintilian. She'd despise Day if she knew what he's done. And Holly is Holly. 11:24:49 PM Canto: Olid.: It depends on if she thinks you're lying to her. Or if you think you're lying to her. 11:27:24 PM Valerian: It wasn't lying. But it wasn't the whole truth either. ... my parents talked about putting me in a hospital or having some cleric try to fix me. 11:27:37 PM Canto: Olid: Well, that's just silly. 11:28:22 PM Valerian: I never told them I knew. 11:28:49 PM Canto: Olid: About the others, you mean? 11:29:13 PM Valerian: That they considered doing that. 11:30:16 PM Valerian: Killing them. It felt like they were talking about killing pieces of me. And they thought I was sick. I didn't tell anyone here because I didn't want to be thought sick. 11:30:26 PM Valerian: That's all. 11:30:54 PM Valerian: If I could split myself into four it would make all our lives easier. I don't suppose you came here to do that? 11:31:34 PM Canto: Olid.: No, I'm afraid not. I came to offer you a sliver of my own power to help get that deck evened up. 11:32:04 PM Valerian: I don't suppose you'd be willing to do both. 11:37:40 PM Valerian: Double or nothing? I know you're a gambler. 11:38:37 PM Canto: Olid.: Hah. You're pretty good. It's tempting, but then you knew that. 11:39:57 PM Canto: Olid.: No, I'm not the god of simplifying anything. 11:40:17 PM Valerian: Four decievers is better than one. 11:40:24 PM Valerian: ... well, three, and Holly. 11:41:14 PM Canto: Olid.: Hmm. Or I could divide you into four beings who are exactly as you are now. So that's 16 deceivers. 11:41:45 PM Valerian: ... I'm willing to take the risk. Choose your game. 11:44:24 PM Canto: Olid.: What's in this for me? 11:44:57 PM Valerian: What do you want? 11:45:14 PM Valerian: Besides, of course, those souls not to make it to one of your enemies. 11:47:43 PM Canto: Olid.: Everything. Maybe I like the idea of you continuing to do this dance you're doing. 11:48:15 PM Valerian: That would be a shame, as I'm going to be telling Wynn as soon as I can manage. 11:48:29 PM Valerian: I can't build anything on an incomplete edifice. 11:48:58 PM Canto: Olid.: And you think me splitting you up would make it easier? 11:49:06 PM Valerian: Yes. 11:51:16 PM Canto: Olid.: Alright. Gimme a coin. 11:51:49 PM Valerian: Valerian grabs a copper, checks it to make sure it's got two different sides, and tosses it to Olidammara. 11:52:05 PM Valerian: ... I like you better in person than I'd've guessed. 11:52:35 PM Canto: He takes the coin and conjures three half walnut shells, putting them on a table. 11:53:42 PM Valerian: That's not a gamble, that's a scam, usually. 11:54:01 PM Valerian: But if you like, I'll try. 11:55:39 PM Canto: Olid.: If you pick the coin, I will give you what you want in addition to the sliver of my power I was gonna give you anyway. If you pick one of the empty ones, you just get the silver. This isn't a scam - the coin will be under one of these three shells. 11:55:47 PM Canto: He mixes them up! 11:56:00 PM Valerian: Valerian tries to watch. 11:56:10 PM Canto: Make a notice check. 11:56:23 PM Valerian: ((2. Hee.)) 11:56:35 PM Canto: Yeah, you lose track of it. 11:56:59 PM Valerian: Valerian chooses the one on the right! 11:57:50 PM Canto: roll a d12. 11:58:13 PM Valerian: ((6.)) 11:58:24 PM Valerian: What kind of power are we talking about? 11:59:00 PM Canto: He lifts the shell! he finds the coin. and just for a moment, he gets to feel what it would be like without those other three in his head. 12:00:11 AM Valerian: Valerian says nothing, but his eyes widen. 12:00:27 AM Valerian: ... I can't... 12:00:37 AM Canto: Holly and Day and Quint stand around him, probably similiarly panicked? 12:00:53 AM Canto: Olid.: See? 12:01:15 AM Valerian: ... bad idea. Bad idea. Yes, this was a terrible idea. 12:01:34 AM Canto: Oli snaps his fingers, and you're back to normal. 12:01:46 AM Valerian: ... that was... 12:01:54 AM Valerian: Valerian shivers. 12:01:57 AM Valerian: Instructive. 12:02:59 AM Canto: Olid.: I gave you what you wanted. We never said how long it would last. 12:03:46 AM Valerian: Thank you for not making it permanent. 12:04:04 AM Valerian: Truly. 12:04:26 AM Canto: Olid.: Hey, I'm rootin' for you, kid. You're my son, after all. Daughter. Whichever. Child. 12:04:46 AM Valerian: Right. Well, you've gained a convert if nothing else. 12:04:53 AM Valerian: What sort of power did you want to invest in me? 12:04:54 AM Canto: Olid flips your coin back to you! It's now a double-sided coin with his mask on both sides. 12:05:19 AM Valerian: I won't quibble with the details, I'm just curious. Nothing should have the souls that ship has collected. 12:05:27 AM Valerian: Valerian catches it and pockets it. 12:05:29 AM Canto: Olid.: Pure magic. Chaos. All that good stuff. You'll figure it out. 12:05:59 AM Valerian: Deal. 12:06:07 AM Canto: Olid.: So now I'll send you back. You still got one more thing to do, though. 12:06:19 AM Valerian: Valerian drinks the rest of his drink. 12:07:03 AM Valerian: Now one. 12:07:14 AM Valerian: What is it? 12:07:53 AM Canto: Olid.: There's this thing where you have to fight a kind of... avatar of the curse. It's gonna cause this reverberation through everyone that's cursed but not here right now. 12:08:19 AM Valerian: Valerian nods. 12:08:36 AM Valerian: ... will each of us have to do it? Holly and Quint and Day, I mean? 12:08:44 AM Canto: Olid.: No. 12:09:07 AM Valerian: Good. 12:09:20 AM Valerian: When will we fight? 12:09:35 AM Canto: Olid.: Pretty soon. Gonna send you back, resurrect you now. 12:09:55 AM Valerian: Thank you. .... for everything. 12:10:17 AM Canto: Olid.: Hey, no problem. You're gonna go far, kid. 12:11:34 AM Valerian: I hope so. 12:11:50 AM Valerian: ... and I hope that's not because I get shot out of a slingshot and splattered across the cosmos.